Wall Street Burger Shoppe – Offline Social Networking

THE CONQUEST
In a world obsessed with social networking, texting and over sharing, sometimes it feels like people actually prefer to connect through a digital medium rather than face to face. These creations are meant to bring us closer together but often times look like they are adding a layer to our interactions. When they actually work to introduce us to like minded people and create real world relationships, well that’s when the magic happens! While recently attending Social Media Week here in NYC, that’s exactly what happened when I met Lea from MacCheesy and Rachel, the Fabulous Foodie.

All 3 of us were attending the “It’s Lunchtime! Now What?” Presented by NearSay & SideBAR and in fact, Lea was on the panel itself. She was representing Bizzy.com, a social network that draws people together based on favorite local business recommendations. It’s a great way to find out about business from people you’ve never met based on having similar recommendations and tastes. Much like the fantastic panel we attended, it’s a great way to link up with like-minded likers. To see what I listed as a favorite, check out my Bizzy Profile. For more on the panel, check out Rachel’s review on The Fabulous Foodie.

As the panel wrapped up and business cards were exchanged, the 3 of us decided to to make a later lunch date that combined Lea’s Macaroni and Cheese obsessed MacCheesy, Rachel’s Fabulous Foodie Bites and my Burger Conquest. At Lea’s suggestion, enter the Wall Street Burger Shoppe.

Standing on Water Street, a stone’s throw away from NYC’s Stone Street in the Financial District, the Wall Street Burger Shoppe is giving the city a new taste of an old idea. The Shoppe is two restaurants in one. The ground floor is an old school Soda Fountain style luncheonette covered in white tiling, offering take away service and a few dine-in stools. Head up stairs for a classic New York pub experience. The upstairs “saloon” offers table side service as well as a full service bar that has a small yet very interesting selection of craft beers. The Wall Street Burger Shoppe is the Burger-Child of ex-corporote chef of Pop Burger, Kevin O’Connell, Heather Tierney, the founder of Sorted dining concierge; and was designed by the founder of Coexist, Chris Tierney.

The Wall Street Burger Shoppe menu is an interesting collection of Salads, starters and a wide-array of non-traditional Burgers. Using only Hereford Beef from Ottomanelli & Sons, choose from selections like the Richard Nouveau Burger made with Prime Kobe beef, grilled and topped with aged Gruyere, shavedblack Truffles, Foie Gras and golden truffle Mayonnaise or the Obama Burger, a Char-grilled 4oz Hereford Beef Burger with fresh Mozzarella, house-made Marinara and fresh Basil. Feel free to create your own Burger experience or mix-n-match with double, dozen, 50 and even 100 Burger packages.

THE BURGER
But if you happen to be there on a Fabulous MacCheesy Burger Conquest hybrid blogger eat up, order what Lea brought us here to get, the Mac ‘N Cheese Burger. It’s a Char-grilled 8oz blend of Hereford Beef, with Macaroni and four Cheeses (Gruyere, American, Pecorino and Cheddar) GROUNDED INTO THE BEEF PATTY ITSELF!!! With all these amazing options, I knew one Burger wasn’t going to be enough and added the Porter House Burger (my FAV cut of Steak), a Char-grilled 6oz blend of Porterhouse Tail and Chuck Burger with Lettuce, Tomato and Steak Sauce.

After much talk of the Bloggerverse and ways to connect to other foodies, our Burger Smorgasbord arrived. Eating with Food Bloggers is always a funny site, and despite what Anthony Bourdain has to say about people who take pictures of their food, we LOVE to do it. Prop, snap, snap, snap and BITE. I dug my chompers into the Porterhouse Burger first. We’re talking about using the most diverse and savory part of the cow in combination with the most popular cut for burgers. That’s like combining the Circus and the Rodeo into the same show. How could it possibly be anything but exciting?!??! Well this Cowboy ain’t clowin’ around when I tell you this Burger is darn tootin! Served on a nice Sesame Seed Roll and a handful of crunchy lettuce, it’s very savory and tastes more like a tasty Steak than your traditional Hamburger.

8 out of 10 ounces

Ottomanelloi & Sons is a name that should be enough to attract you to a Burger. Add in the word Hereford and you should already be on your way. Throw in 4 kinds of delicious cheese (Gruyere, American, Pecorino and Cheddar) and your mouth should be watering at the idea. But mix it with Macaroni and put it inside the grind and you got yourself a “MUST EAT THIS” moment of culinary adventure. I’m not sure that my request for a Medium-Rare temperature is what caused the Pasta to remain a little Al Dente but if it did, do NOT consider any other option. The Wall Street Burger Shoppe Mac ‘N Cheese Burger is one of the most savory and flavorful Burgers I have ever had. Each creamy and salted bite pure foodie delight. I’m not one for taking things on the easy path and added the cup of Cheese Sauce made for dipping the Fries, right on top of the Burger for a complete Cheesy overload. To keep with theme, Lea uploaded a photo, while giggling, of my Cheese pouring action onto her twitter via Instagram. Well I say go ahead and giggle. Laugh it up like a Circus Clown who now works at the Rodeo because it took my awesome Burger from delicious to dangerously delightful!